1978–79 Irish Cup - Misplaced Pages

Football tournament season

1978–79 Irish Cup
Tournament details
Country	Northern Ireland
Teams	16
Defending champions	Linfield
Final positions
Champions	Cliftonville (8th win)
Runner-up	Portadown
Tournament statistics
Matches played	17
Goals scored	68 (4 per match)
← 1977–78 1979–80 →

The 1978–79 Irish Cup was the 99th edition of the Irish Cup, Northern Ireland's premier football knock-out cup competition.

The defending champions were Linfield, who defeated Ballymena United 3–1 in the 1977–78 final. However, they were knocked out by eventual winners Cliftonville in the first round. Cliftonville went on to win the cup for the 8th time, defeating Portadown 3–2 in the final. The 1979 victory represented their first cup success in 70 years; this remains a record for the longest gap between Irish Cup wins. This was Cliftonville's last Irish Cup success until the club won the Irish Cup for the first time in 45 years in 2024, though they had reached the final five times since this win; in 1997, 1999, 2009, 2013 and 2018. They lost the 1997, 2009, 2013 and 2018 finals, and were disqualified before the final was played in 1999 when it was discovered that they had fielded an ineligible player in the earlier rounds.

Results

First round

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Ards	1–3	Portadown
Ballymena United	2–1	Crusaders
Coleraine	5–2	Downpatrick Rec.
Distillery	0–2	Banbridge Town
Glenavon	4–1	Bangor
Larne	3–2	Glentoran
Linfield	3–4	Cliftonville
Omagh Town	2–6	RUC

Quarter-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Coleraine	2–3	Cliftonville
Glenavon	3–2	Banbridge Town
Portadown	2–1	Ballymena United
RUC	0–1	Larne

This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 0–0 draw.

Semi-finals

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Cliftonville	1–0	Larne
Portadown	2–1	Glenavon

This tie required a replay, after the first game ended as a 2–2 draw.

Final

28 April 1979

Cliftonville	3 – 2	Portadown
Platt 32' Adair 46' Bell 89'	Report	Campbell 2' Alexander 77'

Windsor Park, Belfast

References

"Northern Ireland Cup Finals". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
^ "Northern Ireland 1978/79". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. RSSSF. Retrieved 26 October 2012.

v t e Irish Cup
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Irish Cup

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v t e 1978–79 in Northern Irish football
Domestic leagues	Irish League
Domestic cups	Irish Cup Gold Cup Ulster Cup County Antrim Shield
European competitions	European Cup UEFA Cup European Cup Winners' Cup
Related to national team	British Home Championship UEFA Euro 1980 qualifying (Group 1)

v t e 1978–79 in European football (UEFA)
« 1977–78 1979–80 »
Domestic leagues	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark '78 '79 England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania Scotland Soviet Union '78 '79 Spain Sweden '78 '79 Switzerland Turkey Yugoslavia
Domestic cups	Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czechoslovakia Denmark England Faroe Islands '78 '79 Finland '78 '79 France East Germany West Germany Greece Hungary Iceland '78 '79 Israel Italy Liechtenstein Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Northern Ireland Norway '78 '79 Poland Portugal Republic of Ireland Romania San Marino Scotland Soviet Union Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Wales Yugoslavia
League cups	England Republic of Ireland Scotland Switzerland
UEFA competitions	European Cup (Final) Cup Winners' Cup (Final) UEFA Cup (Final) Super Cup
Non-UEFA competitions	Intertoto Cup Balkans Cup '77–'78 '79–'80

Association football in Northern Ireland

Irish Football Association - Northern Ireland Women's Football Association

National teams

Leagues

Men	NIFL Premiership NIFL Championship NIFL Premier Intermediate League Ballymena & Provincial Football League Mid-Ulster Football League Northern Amateur Football League NIFL Premiership Development League
Women	Women's Premiership Championship 1 Championship 2

Domestic cups

Men	Irish Cup NI Football League Cup NIFL Charity Shield County Antrim Shield Mid-Ulster Cup North West Senior Cup Irish Intermediate Cup Steel & Sons Cup Bob Radcliffe Cup Craig Memorial Cup
Women	IFA Women's Challenge Cup NIFL Women's Premiership League Cup All-Island Cup

Defunct leagues

Defunct cups

Awards

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